CKrueger
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 p.1 #1 · Manfrotto 055MF3 review | |
Hey all, I just received a Manfrotto 055MF3 "magfiber" tripod from B&H to replace my ancient Velbon Stratos. My old Velbon still works fine, but I saw a Manfrotto 3021PRO in a store with a shoulder strap attached and fell in love with the idea of having a tripod I could toss on my back, but set up without screwing around with strapping all three legs together. The Manfrotto tripods (3001PRO/3021PRO/190MF3/055MF3) are the only tripods I could find that had this functionality built-in... or even available.
I also bought a Manfrotto 3502 leveling base, and bought a 390RC2 panhead as well (thanks to a $25 rebate Manfrotto is running at the moment).
How is the 055MF3? Here's my thoughts:
+ It's pretty light for its height. The weight is well-balanced when collapsed, its nice thick legs make it easy to carry by hand, and it doesn't feel particularly top heavy when extended fully, even with the heavy leveling base and a head mounted.
+ The flip levers are nice. Older Manfrotto flip levers could take your fingers off, but these are much nicer. No nasty 'snap', just a nice solid clamp.
+ Its strap lugs are excellent. With a shoulder strap the tripod hangs nicely on my back. I could easily hike for a few hours with this on my back with no difficulties. Much nicer than a big bulky tripod bag.
- The legs are junk. You have to yank VERY hard on all three of the first leg sections to get them to extend all the way. The tubes will extend about 90% of their travel easily, but that last 10% is very difficult to extend. Of course this makes it very difficult to set the tripod down level. Additionally, it's very hard to jam the legs back in after extending them this way. Tapping them on the ground makes them contract, but overall this is a HUGE negative for me, as simply using the tripod is a big pain. Very shoddy.
- It's a bit too tall for me, fully extended. A highly personal issue, but at 5'8", this tripod with the leveling base and panhead are a couple inches too tall. Its height would almost be a positive except in light of the aforementioned leg problems.
- The center column doesn't have a very progressive tightening clamp. It seems to either be loose enough to make your camera slide down or tight enough to be immobilized. Coming from a geared center column this was a let down for me. It's not a big deal very often, but for macro and lightbox work it makes life difficult.
- The tripod isn't as stable as my Velbon at full leg extension. My heaviest load is a 100-400 + 5D + 580EX, and I get more vibration from the 055MF3 than from my old Velbon Stratos 450. Mirror slap is more noticeable, and slight nudges take longer to deaden. I did NOT expect this, with Manfrotto listing this tripod as supporting 15lbs. I expected a ROCK solid tripod so long as I kept the center column retracted, and that's not the case. It's not bad, it's just not as good as my old tripod legs.
- Overall build quality didn't impress me. The problems I mentioned above, and the cheap-feeling plastic horizontal head adapter are the main problem areas for me, but playing with other Manfrotto tripods in the store I felt a general lack of quality, as many of the floor models showed signs of wear, and some even had minor malfunctions. Also, around here I've heard people say things like "the clamps wore out, so I had to buy new ones"... not exactly inspiring.
Overall after using the 055MF3 I came away unimpressed. It does its job fairly well, but its jerky legs and inprecise center column turned me off. The biggest strike against it, however, is that my ancient aluminum Velbon is 1.1lbs lighter, folds to the same size, is nearly as tall, and is more stable. Its only downsides are that it can't get as low to the ground and it doesn't have provision for a strap.
Some might also list The Velbon's joined center support as a downside, but I actually like this style because I can extend all three legs simultaneously, I can lock the leg spread down by tightening a knob, and It's still very easy to level over unlevel ground simply by extending/retracting individual legs. I presume a lot of this tripod's strength comes from this center support, as well, since this tripod is considerably lighter than the Manfrotto, yet is more stable.
If anyone cares, my plan at the moment is to return the Manfrotto gear. This leaves me with a dilemma of how to mount a strap to my tripod. My current plan is to either take a drill to my Velbon (if I can find a place to drill), or to try out a Velbon El Carmagne 530A, which roughly matches my existing tripod, but has a spot on the bottom of its center column to attach a stone bag... I'd attach the strap to that and create a metal gasket-like piece to fit between the head and base to attach the other end of the strap.
(Oh, before anyone recommends Gitzo... I hate twist locks, so their entire lineup is a non-starter for me. Sadly.)
Since no review is complete without pictures, here's a couple.
The 055MF3 (right) and the Stratos 450 (left):
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/4306/velbonmanfrottouc9.jpg
A closeup of the Manfrotto 055MF3, 3502 leveling base, and 390RC2 head (which I got for $25 thanks to a rebate):
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9282/manfrottocloseupdp6.jpg
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